Choosing (and Creating) My 2016 Boston Marathon Training Plan

Posted on by

This should be a shorter post than the one I wrote about choosing my training plan for last fall.  Back then, I was torn between the Hansons and Hudson plan and ultimately chose the former.  Now, I’m going to choose the latter.  Being responsible for my own training is very intimidating.  I’d rather turn my brain off and follow a plan day after day.  But, I’ve been running long enough that I should be able to do this.

IMG_20151218_092319

I’ve spent the past few days reading the book on the Hudson plan, Run Faster: From the 5K to the Marathon, How to be Your Own Best Coach. The book has canned training plans at the back.  However, with the adaptive training philosophy, the idea is that runners create their own plan and adapt it every day.  Chapter 7 is titled, “Creating a Training Plan”, and it takes a runner through the process of creating a basic training plan.  Here’s what I came up with during that exercise.

Step 1: Choose a Peak Race and a Race Goal.  The first part of this step was easy.

Goal Race: The Boston Marathon on Monday, April 18, 2016.

The second part was tougher.  I’ve been chasing sub-3:20 for 3 years now.  Reflexively, I wanted to make that my goal again but I took to heart a passage in the book that read, “if you never achieve your goals, clearly they are too ambitious”.  This past training cycle, I really would have been satisfied with a personal record (PR), so I think that would be a good goal for Boston.  And, since I’ve struggled to run Boston well in the past, my other goal is to run a smart race.

Race Goals: Set a PR and run sub-3:22:56 (7:45 pace) and/or set a course PR and run sub-3:25:58 (7:52 pace).

Step 2: Pick a Start Date and Plan Duration.  Ideally, a marathon plan would be anywhere from 18-24 weeks.  Unfortunately, 18 weeks from the Boston Marathon would have been this past Monday so that ship has sailed.  But, I’m coming off marathon training, so I figure starting in the next week or so would be fine.

Start Date: Approximately 17 weeks from race day, which would be Monday, December 21st.

Step 3: Decide on the Appropriate Running Volume and Frequency and Weekly Workout Structure.  I think I do well marathon training in the 70-80 miles a week range.  And, since the Hudson plan has recovery weeks, I feel more confident about setting  a high benchmark knowing I’ll have a cut-back week ahead.  The plan recommends running at least 6 times a week, and that’s certainly something I can do.  I’m not keen on off days, but I’ll add it as an option just in case I find myself overly fatigued.  The book advises a maximum of 70 miles a week in single runs.  I’m also willing and able to integrate doubles into my schedule to get my mileage up a little.  Hudson doesn’t give specific guidance on doubles, but I’m going to go ahead and delete the one the book shows for Saturday evening.

Running Volume and Frequency: 80 miles in a week on 6-7 days a week in 9 runs.

Structure:
Monday: Easy Run + Hill Sprints (AM), Easy Run (PM)
Tuesday: Hard Run
Wednesday: Moderate (AM), Easy Run (PM)
Thursday: Easy Run (or occasionally OFF)
Friday: Hard Run
Saturday: Easy Run
Sunday: Long Run

Step 4: Divide Your Plan into Introductory, Fundamental, and Sharpening Periods.  This step was pretty easy, too.  The book provides a recommended duration for each phase.  I’m making my introductory phase a little shorter because I’m coming off a marathon training cycle and should still be in pretty good shape.

Introductory Period:  4 weeks (Monday, December 21st to Sunday, January 17th)
Fundamental Period: 9 weeks (Monday, January 18th to Sunday, March 20th)
Sharpening Period: 4 weeks (Monday, March 21st to Monday, April 18th), including a two-week taper.

Step 5: Plan Your Peak Training Week.  In the Hudson plan, the peak training week comes either the week or two weeks before race week.  This week has the hardest race specific workouts but is not necessarily the highest mileage week.  I’m scheduling mine for two weeks out.  As far as the structure, I stayed pretty close to the suggested week in the plan for now.  But, I haven’t read the training philosophy in detail so this might change.

Peak Week: Monday, March 28th to Sunday, April 3rd

Structure:
Monday: 6 Mile Easy Run + Hill Sprints (AM), 4 Mile Easy Run (PM)
Tuesday: 10 Miles w/4 x 1 Mile @ Goal Marathon Pace
Wednesday: 10 Mile Moderate Run (AM), 4 Mile Easy Run (PM)
Thursday: 6 Mile Easy Run
Friday: 12 Miles w/2 x 3 miles @ Goal Half Marathon Pace
Saturday: 6 Mile Easy Run
Sunday: 20 Miles w/10 @ Goal Marathon Pace (Cherry Blossom 10 Miler)

Step 6: Schedule Tune-up Races and Recovery Weeks.  I love racing!  Most or all of the adaptations I made to the Hansons plan last cycle were made to include races.  In the Hudson plan, they suggest two easy days of running before tune-up races and therefore, advise scheduling them around recovery weeks.  Recovery weeks!  Also something that wasn’t a feature of the Hansons plan.  These should occur every three or four weeks and represent a 20-30% reduction in mileage.  I picked three thinking at least one will be cancelled for weather.  (My complete racing schedule is here).

Tune Up Races: DCRRC JFK 20K on Saturday January 16th; George Washington Birthday 10K on Sunday, February 14th; and Rock n Roll DC Half Marathon on Saturday, March 12th.

Recovery Weeks: Monday, January 11th to Sunday, January 17th; Monday, February 8th to Sunday, February 14th; and Monday, March 7th to Sunday, March 13th.

Step 7: Schedule Progressions for Interval Workouts, Threshold Workouts, and Long Runs.  This step involves scheduling my Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday workouts.  For this, I need to go back and read the previous chapters.  Essentially, these chapters give instructions on how to progressively increase aerobic support for various race distances.

Step 8: Fill in the remainder of the schedule.  The final step is filling in the easier runs, strides, and drills.  The easy runs will get me to my overall mileage goals each week and hill sprints will help build leg strength over time.

Following those steps, I created the framework of a training plan for the Boston Marathon.  However, the real challenge for the Hudson plan will be adjusting it each day.  It’s a bit intimidating – I know a lot about running but can I string 17 weeks of good training principles together?  I don’t know.  But, it’s comforting to know I can always fall back on the ready-made plan in the book.

A few more days of rest and then it’s back to the grind!  Here I come Boston!

Related Posts